Apple's Infinite Loop Store Permanently Closing Next Month

[m4mario]

I've been to both Apple Park and Infinite Loop and I can tell you that the Infinite Loop store is one of the most ordinary Apple Stores I've been to. Apple Park is much better. With a giant screen, better store design made of glass on the sides, larger store space, back to back training sessions, coffee shop, Apple space ship campus miniature model with an AR experience and a large parking area. None of these exist in Infinite Loop. If you were a tourist and were to visit an "Apple" Apple Store, it should have definitely been Apple Park. No loss here.

 

[bbeagle]

and I never got to visit… wow.

You had 30 years. Obviously, it wasn't that important to you.

 

[lkrupp]

I happened to visit this store recently. It was quite small, but there was exclusive Apple-branded merchandise not found elsewhere (mugs, water bottles, notepads, pens, shirts). Wonder if some of those will become available at Apple Park Visitor Center, or if that is the end of it.

That’s exactly the question I was going to ask. I visited there some ten years go while visiting relatives in Los Gatos and brought some Apple branded mugs, t-shirt, etc. That stuff is not available in Apple Stores that I know of.

 

[trusso]

To continue giving customers the most amazing shopping experiences, Apple doesn’t want to spread itself too thin across America. Recalibrating the Apple Store roadmap is never about saving money.

I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.

Please, tell me you’re joking. Drinking that much kool-aid is hazardous to your health.

 

[techno-Zen]

The older version of that company store was AWESOME!!

 

[dumastudetto]

I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.

Please, tell me you’re joking. Drinking that much kool-aid is hazardous to your health.

I’m not joking. Apple is in the experiences business.

 

[CasualTaiwanEnjoyer]

That sucks. I had the chance to visit that store on my USA roadtrip earlier this year!

 

[JippaLippa]

The most beautiful apple store I have seen, was in Rome, Italy (via del corso).
Absolutely gorgeous and classy! It was a treat visiting it, even if I didn't need to purchase any products.

 

[JippaLippa]

Apple Store in Copenhagen, Denmark, wanted!

Er der ikke en æble butik, i København?

(sorry, trying to practice my Danish skills )

 

[matsan]

Guess the value of my “I visited the mothership” t-shirt took a jump north.

 

[TheColtr]

I remember visiting the company store back in 2014 right before they did their renovation in 2015. The original store was super cool and had everything Apple branded, I even picked up a dress shirt with the Apple logo embroidered. after the renovation it became much more like a normal Apple Store with the Apple merch a side piece. Not my photo, but this is what it use to look like. Off to the left out of frame they had a curved check out desk like a normal store.

 

[indychris]

Meh. If the company was still what it was then I would be disappointed that Infinite Loop is not continuing to be what it is. As it were… Cook sailed that ship many years ago.

I’m still with Apple, not because Apple is so great, but because something better hasn’t yet shined. I really wish I could muster the passion for the company I once had.

 

[SemperMac]

Apple Store in Copenhagen, Denmark, wanted!

100% agree … it’s overdue in København … still wonder, why it hasn’t happened yet with an APPLE STORE there!?!?

Apple Store in Copenhagen, Denmark, wanted!

 

[TigerNike23]

You can’t just humble brag this like! We need pics!!! Lol

….at least the “very nice jacket”..



Oh snap, look at light-skinned Kanye! 🤣

I get a bigger kick out of the Apple Security guy wearing an Android watch.

 

[mlrproducts]

I got to go in 2008 when working for Apple. It was really cool, still have an apple embroidered sweatshirt jacket. Shame it changed in 2015, from the pictures I've seen it wasn't even the same then.

 

[warriors2017]

I remember visiting the company store back in 2014 right before they did their renovation in 2015. The original store was super cool and had everything Apple branded, I even picked up a dress shirt with the Apple logo embroidered. after the renovation it became much more like a normal Apple Store with the Apple merch a side piece. Not my photo, but this is what it use to look like. Off to the left out of frame they had a curved check out desk like a normal store.
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I don't think you can buy those Apple merchandise anymore unless you work for Apple 😢

 

[escargot3]

A lot of Apple Stores seem be closing this year.

Not really. Only 2 out of more than 500, and that’s only because they are redundant ones.

 

[Draeconis]

Recently was visiting California, and happened to see both Infinite Loop and the Visitor Centre stores. Glad I got a few mugs and shirts now! Also got a MacBook Air for a relative, fun to get a Mac from the address on the box.

 

[rcread]

Wait, there are Apple enthusiasts who make pilgrimages to Cupertino? I can imagine that conversation with my wife.

Her: "Where should we go on vacation this year?"
Me: "Let's go to Infinite Loop and look at Apple stuff!"
Her: "Yeah, you should do that. I'll be in Maui."

 

[jerryk]

Apple today confirmed that it will be permanently closing its Infinite Loop retail store in Cupertino, California on January 20. Infinite Loop served as Apple's headquarters between the mid-1990s and 2017, when its current Apple Park headquarters opened a few miles away.

Apple will be offering all employees at the store the opportunity to continue working with the company. A source informed us that at least some employees will be able to relocate to nearby stores, including the Apple Park Visitor Center and Apple Valley Fair.

"After many years of serving customers at our stores in the Bay Area, we plan to close our store at Infinite Loop," an Apple spokesperson said, in a statement shared with MacRumors. "All of our valued team members will have the opportunity to continue their roles with Apple. We look forward to welcoming our customers at our nearby Apple Park Visitor Center and other locations, on Apple.com, and the Apple Store app."

Apple is also permanently closing its Royal Hawaiian store in Honolulu on January 20. Apple said it remains committed to "providing an excellent experience for our customers," and noted it has opened new stores this year in the U.S., China, India, South Korea, and the U.K., plus expanded its online store to Chile and Vietnam.

The offices at the Infinite Loop campus will continue to be used by Apple's corporate employees, with only the store closing. The main building's atrium is under construction until early 2024, according to a sign posted outside the entrance.

The store first opened in 1993 as The Company Store, and it focused primarily on selling Apple-branded merchandise. Following renovations in 2015, it reopened as a more traditional Apple retail store, with products like the iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch displayed on beige tables, but it continued to sell a limited selection of merchandise, like t-shirts, reusable bottles, mugs, and notebooks. The store is one of Apple's smaller locations, and it does not offer Genius Bar appointments or "Today at Apple" creative sessions.

Infinite Loop is a popular attraction for Apple enthusiasts, who often make the pilgrimage to the campus and the store. However, it has been overshadowed by the Apple Park Visitor Center since that location opened in 2017.

A different collection of Apple-branded merchandise is available for purchase at the Apple Park Visitor Center, and the location also serves as a traditional Apple retail store. Other features at the Visitor Center include a Caffè Macs coffee bar, a rooftop patio with a seating area, and a large AR model of the Apple Park campus.

Article Link: Apple's Infinite Loop Store Permanently Closing Next Month

I remember that area fondly from years of commuting to Microsoft in Cupertino. Building looked the same back in the 90s. with blacked/greened out windows on the first floor.

 

[jerryk]

I remember that area fondly from years of commuting to Microsoft in Cupertino. Building looked the same back in the 90s. with blacked/greened out windows on the first floor.

At one point there was Computer Literacy bookstore in the same parking lot.

 

[applepotato666]

To continue giving customers the most amazing shopping experiences, Apple doesn’t want to spread itself too thin across America. Recalibrating the Apple Store roadmap is never about saving money.

LOL I don't think it's about that. In Paris there's at least 3 Apple stores that I know of, all within walking distance from one another. The stores are in my opinion mostly there for the flex, the beauty and the branding. Mostly a reflection of the Apple brand than a retail location. You can shop Apple everywhere else and online as most do, and in Europe we mostly buy from our carriers because of the carrier deals. Apple keeps the stores around because they want to keep the locations - their stores are in some of the most beautiful parts of the cities they're in. Every time I've walked into one of those stores in Paris because they're nearby, I've either been the only person inside apart from the staff or there have been just a few other people.

 

[swixo]

It's very close to my house! Visited today.
Will miss it.

 

[newyorksole]

You had 30 years. Obviously, it wasn't that important to you.

to you and the likers:

1) considering my age, I did not in fact have the entire past 30 years to visit.

2) never said it was that important to me. just stating that I never got to go. if I really wanted to, I would’ve. doesn’t make the closure any less surprising!

thanks.

 

[Clix Pix]

In January of 2006, still fairly new to the whole world of Apple and Macs, I was able to go out to California to attend MacWorld that year. Of course, being so close by relatively speaking, one afternoon I just had to get on the local train system (CalTrain?) and go out to Cupertino and take a cab right to Infinite Loop. Standing in the driveway, I gazed at the building and breathed in the magic (apple-scented?) air, looked around me with awe and then headed into the Company Store (as it was called at that time). Definitely different from my local store back here in the DC suburbs!

I am still using the Apple rainbow logo mug and the Apple white logo orange mouse pad I got that day, plus occasionally wearing the "Mothership" t-shirt.... Brought home goodies not just for myself but for friends who were fellow Apple fans as well. It was a fun and unique experience and now hearing that the "Company Store" is closing up for good, I appreciate my one visit there even more. Nice memories.....

Maybe some day I'll get out to California again and this time be able to pay a visit to the astounding "spaceship" that is the heart and center of Apple Park. I'd love to browse the visitors' area there and the store, but somehow I know it still would never be the same as that one very special day back in January 2006....